, pp.56-60 http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/astl.2015.100.13 A Study on Hierarchy of Spatial Configuration in Outpatient Department of General Hospital Sangwon Oh 1, Heangwoo Lee 2, Yongseong Kim 3 1 Speed-yooh@hanmail.net 2 moonup2001@nate.com 3 yongkim@kookmin.ac.kr Abstract. Hospitals require special construction and thus must be planned by classifying traffic lines into patient and caregiver traffic lines, visitor traffic lines, medical team traffic lines, and supply traffic lines. As such, it is necessary to consider patients traffic lines by taking into account their symptoms and characteristics, and create a pleasant living space in terms of hospital planning. Therefore, this study aims to provide basic data for planning the spatial organization of hospitals based on a hierarchical analysis of space, and it is carried out in the process of theoretical study and derivation of space syntax. The subjects of analysis are large-scale university hospitals in Korea with at least 600 beds, and the results are as follows. 1) As a result of deriving connectivity, it was found that the waiting hall and corridor area connecting the waiting hall tend to be high, and have high availability and thus are likely to be in traffic. 2) In terms of integration, the lobby core area turned out to be high, which shows that the traffic lines of spatial cognition to move from one floor to another in the outpatient department are favorable. Similarly, the corridor is high, and there is a need for research to plan the spatial structure and increase cognition in connection with corridors with high integration. 3) The subjects of analysis take a circulative structure, and the structural intelligibility of space is 0.6, indicating low spatial cognition; thus, a structure with hierarchical continuity seems appropriate in designing the outpatient department. Keywords: General hospital, Hierarchy of space, Convex, Space syntax 1 Introduction ISSN: 2287-1233 ASTL Copyright 2015 SERSC
1.1 Purpose of study Hospitals are aggregates of complex and holistic functions in the field of architecture, and as such they require special construction given their need for highly-efficient composition and rationality. Accordingly, there is a need for systematic analysis in spatial organization as it is necessary to plan the construction by classifying the structure into patient and caregiver traffic lines, visitor traffic lines, medical team traffic lines, and supply traffic lines. The outpatient department is a typical space that symbolizes the hospital where the activities of various users take place. The living space of patients is mostly concentrated on the affiliated facilities or hospital rooms in the ward, and the work by the medical team is focused on the nurse station. For inpatients, hospital rooms are spaces where they live and engage in living activities. A pleasant room not only acts as a means of accommodations but also provides mental stability, and has a significant correlation with the patient s treatment and recovery. As such, it is necessary to consider patients traffic lines by taking into account their symptoms and characteristics, and create a pleasant living space in terms of hospital planning. Therefore, this study aims to provide basic data for planning the spatial organization of hospitals based on a hierarchical analysis of space. 1.2 Methods and Procedures of the study This study is carried out through a process of theoretical study and deduction of space syntax. This study was conducted in the following order: 1) Through a literature review to deduct the analytical method, factors were deducted that were reflected on spatial planning in the spatial aspect, 2) spatial organization characteristics and trends of each component were identified by deducting space syntax of the subjects, 3) the access and cognition of space were assessed and analyzed through indexes, and 4) conclusions were reached. The subjects of analysis are university hospitals in Korea, as shown in Table 1. Table 1. Overview of analysis subject Hospital name Hallym University Medical Center : Year of foundation No. of beds No. of floors (above ground/underground) 2004 600 8/1 Chosun University Hospital : 2007 715 4/4 Table 2. Floor plan of subjects Copyright 2015 SERSC 57
2 Theory investigation 2.1 Concept and composition of the outpatient department The outpatient department is named and classified to distinguish the functions of the hospital, and it can be defined as a department in charge of treating patients, which is the main purpose of a hospital. Its functions are as follows: first, to treat patients who can visit regularly; second, to examine patients who want or need to be hospitalized, identify their diseases, and determine whether they will be hospitalized; third, to provide continuous treatment to discharged patients; fourth, to offer medical checkups for disease prevention, early discovery, and the promotion of health; fifth, to recover paralyzed functions, maintain remaining functions, and develop or study complementary functions; and lastly, to act as a venue for training and education [1]. 2.2 Study of space syntax Space syntax is a method that regards convex space as unit space, and quantitatively analyzes the array and connection of each unit space. The following are the key indexes of space syntax related to this study [2]. Table 3. Key indexes of space syntax Connectivity Integration Intelligibility Connectivity indicates the number of axes with which the space is connected to the surrounding unit space. A space with high connectivity has a high frequency of use. This index expresses relative depth to approach surrounding unit space from a specific space, and access is easier as this index is higher. Defined as correlation between the overall attributes of spatial structure and attributes of local space. Spatial cognition as a whole is high in areas with high spatial structure intelligibility, and the spatial structure and spatial use patterns are systematic. 58 Copyright 2015 SERSC
3 Qualitative analysis and results of spatial hierarchy in the outpatient department of general hospitals Connectivity and integration, which are indexes of space syntax, were deducted to assess the hierarchy of the plane structure of general hospitals, and the results equivalent to the upper values were presented. The analysis and results of spatial hierarchy in the outpatient department of general hospitals are as follows. In Chosun University Hospital, connectivity was highest in the lobby, followed by corridor of the lower control room and corridor near the entrance for emergency patients. In Hallym University Medical Center, connectivity was highest in the hall of the mortuary department, followed by in the corridor of the lower nurse room, and the corridor of the upper cast room, which is at the central part of the traffic lines of the outpatient department. Second, integration in Table 5 is an index that affects cognition of the outpatient department. In Chosun University Hospital, it was highest in the corridor of the lower control room, followed by in the corridor of the lower x- ray room, and in the waiting room on the left of the x-ray room. In Hallym University Medical Center, integration was highest in the hall of the mortuary department, followed by in the corridor of the lower nurse room, and the corridor of the upper main doctor s office. It can be seen that in order to increase cognition, there is the need for a plan to be connected to corridors or halls. Moreover, by examining the spatial structure of each hospital, it was found that Chosun University Hospital showed a value of 0.552 and Hallym University Medical Center showed 0.195. In terms of spatial cognition, this is suitable based on the study[3] arguing that at least 0.6 of intelligibility of spatial structure is suitable for spatial cognition. This may result in inconvenience for outpatients, and might be caused by the circulative spatial structure. Accordingly, a hierarchical and consecutive spatial structure is appropriate for increasing the cognition of the outpatient department. Table 4. Average and deviation of connectivity of convex space by component Division Connectivity (5 values in descending order) Lobby (7), corridor of the lower control room (7), corridor near the entrance for emergency patients (7), corridor of the lower x-ray room (7), treatment area for emergency patients (6) Hall of the mortuary department (14), corridor of the lower nurse room (8), corridor of the upper cast room (7), corridor of the upper main doctor s office (7), corridor near the entrance for emergency patients (6) Table 5. Average and deviation of integration of convex space by component Division Integration (5 values in descending order) Lobby (1.324), corridor of the upper emergency department office (1.261), corridor of the lower emergency test room (1.248), rectangular corridor on the lower-left side (1.235), corridor near the entrance for emergency patients (1.191) Corridor on the right of the left staircase (1.195), corridor near the restroom entrance on the right of the left staircase (1.162), ELEV. Hall (1.100), left staircase (1.094), corridor on the right of the left p.s. room (1.094) Copyright 2015 SERSC 59
Table 6. Intelligibility of outpatient department R^2 =0.553 R^2 =0.195 4 Conclusion This study was conducted to establish the basic data for design by quantitatively analyzing the spatial hierarchy of the outpatient department in general hospitals, and the conclusions are as follows. 1) As a result of deducting connectivity, the waiting hall and corridor area connecting the waiting hall tend to be high, have high availability and thus are likely to be in traffic. 2) For integration, the lobby core area turned out to be high, which shows that the traffic lines of spatial cognition to move from one floor to another in the outpatient department are favorable. Likewise, the corridor is high, and there is a need for research to plan the spatial structure and increase cognition in connection with corridors with high integration. 3) The subjects of analysis take a circulative structure, and the structural intelligibility of space is 0.6, indicating low spatial cognition; thus, a structure with hierarchical continuity seems appropriate in designing the outpatient department. This study has limitations in that it only assessed the spatial hierarchy of the outpatient department. Future research must include other departments such as the ward department as well. References 1. Lee, H.W., at. al.: Simulation Study on the Performance Evaluation of Light-shelf According to Geometric Shape of Ceiling, International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Vol.26 No.4, 181--192 (2014) 2. Chung Y.G.: Daylighting Performance Evaluation of window Integrated Light Shelf System. Journal of the Korean Institute of Educational Architecture and Environment vol7 no5, 41 -- 47 (2007) 3. Cho, S.: The Technical Development Status of Energy Convergence Building. Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning&Design, vol55 no.2, 29 -- 38 (2009) 4. Lee, H.W., at. Al.: Simulation Study on the Performance Evaluation of Light-shelf focused on the Depth of Space and the Dimensions and Angles of Light-shelf, Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning&Design, vol29 no3, 335 -- 345 (2013) 5. Kim, D.W., Park,C.S.: Performance Assessment of Building EnvelopesⅡ: LightShlef, RetroLux. Proceeding of the KSES 2009 Spring Annual Conference, 77--82 (2009) 6. Back, S.K., Lee, S.H.:A Study on Lighting Design and Illumination and Luminance of in Advanced type Control Room by the Standard of Ergonomics, Journal of the ergonomics society of Korea vol27 no2,73 -- 82 (2008) 60 Copyright 2015 SERSC